Heat treatment of steel tires and wheels



Jan, 27, 1925. 1,524,578

C. P. SANDBERG -v HEAT TREATMENT OF STEEL TIRES AD WHEELS v Filed Nv. 25, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l- \\N k I/,l O f l l l t l r /l l /l/ I y, Q 5 d a l* N l 'L` a Il 'I H4:

S1 L' fn 's w frf Hfm* Qq I 'l v Jan, 427, 1925.

C. P. SANDBERG- HEAT TREATMENT oF STEEL TIRES ANDwHEELs Filed Nov. '25, 1922 2 sheets-sheet 2 Fatent d. 27, 1925,

CHRISTER P. SANDBERG, F LONDON, ENGLAND.

' HEAT rnnarmnnr or STEEL Trans aNnwHEELs.

Application led November 25, 1922. Serial No. 603,295.

' 5 invented `certain-new and useful improvements in the Heat Treatment of Steel Tires and Wheels, of. which the following is a specication.

The hesubtreatment to which steel tires and solid wheels are Asubjected during their manufacture tends to leave them in such a condition that should fracture occur there is a tendency for the tire to-leave the body of the wheel, or, in the case of a solid wheel, .for the tire portion to open.

I have found that if the tire or solid wheel is cooled both on its external and on its internal periphery, under adequately controlled conditions, the internal stresses or 2G the molecular structure, or both,of the tire or wheel can be somodied that when avbrealr occurs the tire tends to grip the body ci the wheel rather than to leave it, and in the case of a solid wheel the tire portion tends to close' rather than to open.

According to this invention a tire or wheel is subjected to heat treatment in such a manner that on the one hand a hard and tough, sorbitic structure is formed from the externalperiphe 'and on the other han the tire is left 'in such a state of internal stress that while it will, if fractured, still exert a tight, gripping actioncon thewheel centre, yet the maximum value of the stresses at any point will not exceed' a safe limit.

For this purpose the tire or soli-d wheelA jected to the cooling effect of jets or sprays of elastic Huid or atomized liquid both on the external periphe l and on the internal periphery. The num r of jets or the volume of cooling medium-which they deliver will dtermine the rate at which -the tire cools; this rate will be determined for the external periphery by the conditions of hardness 4there required, and for thecin- .Y tei-nal 'periphery by the necessity for correcting the stresses produced in the outer and inner parts of the tire by the cooling of while hot is su produce a -state of compression in the outer part and of tension in the inner. part, having regard to the elastic limit of the steel.

to any desiredk depth,

, pipe s,

the external periphery, the object being to,

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. l is a plan of a machine fortreating wheels or tlres according to the invention, Fig. 2 isa vertical section on line 2f2 of Fig. 1.

The machine comprises a circular table a mounted to rotate with a vertical shaft b and supported by rollers c.

which also carries a cylindrical guard e'. The shaft is driven by the bevel gear f. A casting g carrying four arms g1 is threaded on shaft b and is clamped to the table by n ut Each arm g1 is slotted to receive bolts z' by' -means of which Ia block k can be held at an adjustable distance from the axis of shaft b. All the blocks being fixed at the same distance from the saird axis, a tire Z of corresponding internal diameter can be supported on the shoulders k1 of the blocks, so as to be incapable of displacement, and will be carried round with the table a.

The frame d is mounted on a cylindrical castingm lhaving a hdllow base at the centre of the bottom of which isa tubulure m1 for attachment of a windpipe; on the periphery of the hollow base are tubulures m2 forl attachment of pipe bends n. The-upper ends of these bends terminate in plates n1 con-l stituting guideways in which the bases of hollow. pedestals ol can slide substantially l air-tight. The pedestals o have upwardly turned branches o1 each of which carries a 85 hollow casting p bolted to it by a bolt p1. A branch 'p2 of the casting p carries nozzles g for-delivering Sprays 4of atomized water (preferably nozzles of the form described in British Specification No. 166,341), the water being supplied by pipe gi` connected with a Water main r. The upper part of the'cast ing p carries a pipe s adapted to turn about a bolt s1 when'nutc2 is loosened. The free end of this pipe is bent at right angles downwards and 'carries nozzles t similar to nozzles g and fed withwater lfrom main r through pipe t1 which extends through the To place a hottire l in position, pipes s are turned about bolts .91 away from the centre of the machine `until a clear passage 'is obtained for lowering the tire on to the blocks 7:.' When the tire is in Aplace pipes s are returned to the position shown. The gear f is now started so that the tire revolves The naar and 60 l shaft' b are mounted in a stationary frame (l on its-axis. At the same Vtime air is forced through the Wind pipe to pass into the casting m and thence into pedestals o and through nozzles g and t, which are also fed with Water from pipe 1'. The air and atomized Water play upon both the outside and the inside periphery of the tire and cool it as desired.

The amount of cooling medium used upon the exterior periphery is governed by a valve in the circular pipe r in accordance with the degree'to which it is desired to raise the hardness of the running suriiace of the tire or Wheel above that which it would possess if slowly cooled from the critical range, Whilst the depth to which the hardening penetrates may be governed by the time during .which the jets are allowed to play. In all cases, however, the object is to cool atV such a rate that a sorbitic structure is obtained.

, Cil

The amount of cooling medium applied to the internal periphery is governed by valvesu in accordance with the state of internal stress which it is desired to leave in the tire. Thus, if the rate of cooling were equal in both peripheries the tire, when mld, would have no tendency when cut. or fractured either to contract or to expand. Ii outside cooling only were used the maximum elect of contraction when cut would be produced, but in cases where the maxi? mum hardness of the sorbitic rstructureswas desired, the stresses so formed might be in excess of those required or desirable. BIV employing both external and internal coo ing, however, both hardness and stresses can be controlled independently as desired, and a tire with any required tendency to contract can be produced.

It will be understood'that the conditions of cooling are ascertained by preliminary experiment on one or more tires of the dimensions and quality of the batch which is to be improved by the treatment.

As an illustration of the variation in the contraction on cutting which can be obtained by variations kin the amount of cooling medium applied to the external and internal peripheries respectively, the following experiment may be quoted Three tires of simllar size (3 Vfeet Vdiameter, 5 inches x 3 inches cross section) andl composition (0.70% carbon, 0.80%l Mn) were treated on a machine such as illustrated above.

Tire A was cooled from the outside only,

1 with fairly drastic treatment. Its hardness in the neighbourhood of the tread was raid from 250 Brinell to 340 Brinell. On cut ting out a radial slice the aces closed in 3 IlCllBS'.

Tire B, was cooled externally and internally, the total amount of cooling agent belng smaller than that used for externally Lomme cooling tire A, and the amount used exa. radial slice the iaoes closed in FA inches.

Tire 'C was treated with about the same amount of cooling agent externally as tire B, but the amount oi cooling internally was increased. The hardness was as in tire B) raised externally to 300 Brine and, on cutting, the races closed in e2/g inch.

' 'iire A would be in a, condition of stress the intensity of which ,would he undesirable in practice; tire B would also he in an unnecessaril high cond'zion oi stress; tile C on the o er hand would be safe in respect of its internal stresses and would close in Suniciently should g'actnre occur.

This illustration indicates how, by the method ci treament described, both hardness and stresses can he varied independently as may be desired.

The re-heating or tires for the purpose of shrinking on to the Wheel centres can, and undoubtedly should he, done so that the maximum temperature attained never arrives' at a point at which internal stresses already present in the tire will he appreciably modilied or reduc@ Thus, the re-heating ci the tire for on, will not interfere with the closing-in property presentin a tire treated according to the present invention. y

Additional stresses are, oi course, put in the tire while it is cooling on the wheel centre. in general these stresses will be 01E opposite sign to those present in tires treated according to the present invention, so that there is no danger that snees put into the tire during treatment will be unduly augmented when a tire is shrunk upon a Wheel centre.

Having thus described the nature of the ery and the internal periphery of the tireY or wheel, the rate of cooling heing such that on the one hand a hard yand tough sorbitic structure is formed to the desired depth from the external periphery and on the other hand the tire is leftpin Suche state of internal stress that should it be fractui-ed it will tend to contract in diameter but 'is not left in an unsafe condition of internal stress. y

2. A process oi improving steel tires and wheels which consists in directing jets of cooling medium on the external .periphery and on the internal periphery of e tire so said. invention and the best means i lmow aan as to cool it from a temperature above-that of the 'critical range, the amount of medium delivered in unit time by the jets being dj usted to produce a tough sorbitic structure' to the desired depth from the external peing of the external periphery are reinforced or corrected to produce a state of compression in the outer part and of tension in the 10 inner part of the tire.

Intestimony Whereofl have signed my name Ato this specication.

CHRISTER P. SANDBERG., 

